CHICAGO — By the time Kentucky forward Alex Poythress checked into Tuesday night’s game against Duke, just four minutes into it, Blue Devils 7-footer Marshall Plumlee already had nine points and five rebounds. He’d scored (easily) on four putbacks.

But Poythress, a 6-foot-8 senior, immediately went to work neutralizing Duke’s inside threat. He defended aggressively and soared over crowds for rebounds. In Plumlee’s final 31 minutes, he produced only three points and five boards.

“Alex came in and just did what he does, what he used to do last year,” before tearing his ACL, point guard Tyler Ulis said.

Most encouraging: Poythress did it with explosive moves, not by throwing his hulking frame around.

“I don’t want him to be a bully. I want him to be an elite athlete,” coach John Calipari said. “See, a bully’s easier. You can stay on the floor and just push around and be a lug. I want him to be an elite athlete, going after every ball, rebounding above the rim.”

Poythress, who finished with nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks off the bench, at one point got his tooth caught in the net after throwing down an emphatic, two-hand dunk off a slick lob from Jamal Murray — which became SportsCenter’s No. 2 play of the day.

That’s the Poythress his coach wants to see more often.

“You hit your tooth on the rim?” Calipari said. “So why don’t you do that every time?”

There is also the matter of Poythress’ offense Tuesday night. He hit just 3 of 10 shots and missed several from close range, including a bricked dunk attempt. Just another speed bump in his road to recovery.

“He’s trying to be a bully. You can’t bully. You gotta go by people. You can’t try to go through them,” Calipari said. “But again, he’s coming off an ACL, guys. And I’m hard on him, but I’m allowed to be. You guys are not allowed to be.”